


Behind the Mask

by Logo



Category: Wreck-It Ralph (Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2018-12-16
Packaged: 2019-09-20 07:35:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17018448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Logo/pseuds/Logo





	Behind the Mask

Rancis’s POV

Electronic dings pierced the peaceful morning air. I groaned irritably and rolled onto my side, lazily searching for my phone while refusing to open my eyes. The suddenness of my ringtone caused me to nearly fall out of the bed. I looked at the screen and saw Taffyta’s name. I rolled my eyes and reluctantly accepted the call.  
“This better be an emergency Taff.”  
“God what took you so long? It’s already 10am why the hell weren’t you answering me?!”  
“It’s Saturday, I catch up on my well deserved beauty sleep on the weekends you should know that by now.”  
“No amount of ‘beauty’ sleep is going to fix what you’ve got going on,” despite it just being a call, I could practically see the judgemental look on her face in front of me. “but anyways, do you have any plans tonight?”  
“Wh-“ before I could even get one word out she sighed, clearly irritated.  
“Ugh, I don’t care; if you did, cancel them. My parents neglected to tell me that our family was invited to some kind of dress-up party tonight? I don’t wanna go alone because I’ll be bored out of my mind, so you’re gonna be my plus one.”  
“Wait slow down.. a dress-up.. party? Taff it’s Halloween, I wasn’t planning anything so I didn’t even think of any costumes-“  
“Relax nerd. When rich people throw a dress-up party for Halloween they mainly show up in the fanciest clothes they own rather than a costume.”  
“Okay well I guess I’ll have something-“  
“Ew, no. I’ve seen your closet countless times and trust me, your clothes don’t make the cut.” I felt like hanging up and just going back to sleep, but knowing Taffyta, she would never forgive me. I unclenched my hands and took a deep breath. Taffyta babbled on, her voice becoming increasingly distant. I opened my blinds and squinted as my eyes struggled to adjust. Almost every home was decorated for Halloween; cheap looking props with fake cobwebs and paper banners strewn across their lawns and the fronts of their houses. I pitied the families that thought what they had thrown together even began to be considered decent or scary.  
“ARE YOU EVEN FUCKING LISTENING TO ME? I SWEAR TO GOD-“ I flinched. I had just began to feel at peace by judging the neighbours pitiful decor, but the harsh reality couldn’t be ignored for any longer.  
“Sorry I’m still waking up.”  
“UGH! YOU'RE INFURIATING!” Some incomprehensible noises came after that, that were soon followed by Taffyta acting as if nothing happened. “Sorry, bad connection. Anywaaaays, just come over to my house ASAP. I’ll organise your outfit and you will drive there with us. Oh, you should also pack an overnight bag bc I doubt you’ll be going home tonight. Cool? Thanks! Don’t know what I’d do without ya! Love yooou~!” she cooed before immediately ending the call. Even if I wanted to protest it would just be a waste of both of our time. Taff always gets her way eventually, going along with it from the beginning is the easiest route. I threw on something I could change out of easily, knowing that she would make me try on at least 30 different things before deciding on something.  
Though I had wanted to spend the weekend lazing about, marathoning some horror movies I enjoyed, I was incredibly intrigued about the party. Despite being friends with Taffyta practically our whole lives, I had never been invited to a “rich people” party that her family wasn’t hosting. As I left for her house, I couldn’t help but imagine what kind of night awaited me. 

“Ugh, you’re so fucking slow. The party starts at 6 o’clock you know?”  
“And?”  
“Oh my go- my dear friend, you may have the face of an angel but I swear your head is filled with rocks!” She teased, pretending to peer inside my head. I scoffed and pushed her off, taking off my shoes before stepping inside; taking a quick glance at my phone to see it was only 10.34am.  
Taff grabbed my hand and proceeded to walk faster than my legs could handle.  
“Why are you being so weird about this party? Normally you wouldn’t take any interest in them so-“ she shoved me into her room and locked the door behind her. She pressed her ear against it for a few moments before relaxing.  
“No one can know, or else I WILL kill you.” I nodded. Taff was one of the most intimidating people in the world, if not the most, so she was able to get her way with little to no effort. “Okay, the family hosting is, like, the rich of the rich. They’re incredibly hard to impress and just being invited to something at their home means they see value in you.”  
“So? You’ve never been one for your family business or any kind of corporative.”  
“GOSH WHAT’S WRONG WITH WANTING TO IMPRESS ONE OF, IF NOT, THE MOST POWERFUL FAMILIES IN THE WORLD?!” I raised an eyebrow and put one of my hands on my hip. I glared at her, and it didn’t take long to crack her. Being her best friend for so long. I know when she’s bullshitting or withholding information.  
She groaned in annoyance and slowly dragged her hands down her face. “FIIIIIIINE!-“ she hesitated, her eyes shifting nervously to avoid my unwavering gaze. “Imayormaynotbecrushingon theironlysonso-“ she spoke so fast it sounded like she had began speaking in a different language.  
“Wait, I cant understand you.”  
She was beginning to look more angry than embarrassed. “IM CRUSHING ON THEIR SON! OKAY?!” The moment the words had left her mouth, she froze. She whispered something under her breath and pressed an ear against the door for a few seconds. She must’ve heard something I couldn’t, because within the blink of an eye she had opened the door and dragged someone into the room by the collar of their shirt.  
“CANDLEHEAD YOU LITTLE TURD! WHAT ARE YOU DOING EAVESDROPPING ON ME AND RANCIS AGAIN?!”  
“Was makin’ sure you two weren’t kissin’ or anythin’.” She teased, smirking smugly at Taffyta.  
“Ew. No offence Taff.”  
“None taken.” She dropped Candlehead on the ground and kicked her back out of the room. “If I catch you listening in on me one more time I swear-“  
“Whatever, you guys talk about boring stuff anyway.” She looked at me and winked, her cheeks flushing red for a moment. Taffyta groaned and slammed the door in her face.  
“Well, at least she’s opening up more, right?” She folded her arms and sighed.  
“Yeah.”  
“Is she coming with us?”  
“God no. She’s from my mum’s side and the business is from my dad’s family. Plus she isn’t old enough to behave at something as important as this party.”  
“I’m not from your dad’s family yet I get to come?”  
“You’re my plus one, Rancis. Like hell I’d use that privilege on an out of control 8-year-old.”  
“What about your parents plus one?”  
“Since the business is my dad’s family’s business, only he got an invite and a plus one, of course. My mum is his plus one.”  
“So your mum doesn’t...”  
“If the business isn’t from your blood family you won’t get an invite, so spouses are kind of forced to invite their partners. I think it’s also so parties stay super exclusive or something.” I pulled a sour look before pretending to gag myself which only got a judgmental scoff from Taffyta. 

“Ugh we’ve wasted so much time on pointless dribble; get off your ass and come pick out some kind of costume.”  
“Are you dressing up or are you going to be like the others and just wear something super flashy?”  
“I’m 18 and it’s Halloween, AND I’m rich. It’s going to be a mix of both. There’s these amazing seamstresses that I’ve hired to create a gorgeous angel costume for me for tonight. Tell me what you wanna go as so I can call them. If we wait much longer they might not be ready in time for tonight, no matter how amazing they are.”  
“Uh, I don’t fucking know... why don’t we both go as angels?”  
“Ew, barf. If we walk in looking like a pair Gloyd may think we’re a couple.” A snorted out with a grotesque laugh. I covered my mouth to stifle any more that threatened to come up. Taff stopped what she was doing and glared at me. The look she gave me was villainous; like she was trying to set me on fire with just her gaze. “If you’re laughing about his name, you have no room to judge; Rancis.” She spat my name so harshly I feared she had just cursed it. Any urge to laugh instantly dissipated and I felt my cheeks burn hot. She smirked at me triumphantly and went back to flipping through the pages of what looked like one of her sketch books. I curiously peered over her shoulder, and was amazed with what I saw. No matter how many times I saw her sketches, I was amazed every single time. Taff was an amazing designer. She knew how to dress any person so perfectly it didn’t seem natural. Her drawing skills were even more astounding; if you didn’t know she had drawn them to begin with you’d assume they were photos. No matter what she dreamed, however, she was the only heir to her family’s company; and to not carry on their business would be the biggest disgrace she could bring upon herself. According to her family and their rich associates anyways.  
“Hey, are you just gonna stand there gawking at me or are you actually going to try and help me.” I still didn’t see why she was so worked up over this party. I understood how powerful and valuable this family was from a business point of view, but Taff would throw away the responsibility of her family business in a heartbeat if she wouldn’t be disowned by them. She quickly skimmed through some pages and suddenly stopped at a section of elaborate looking costumes.  
“Woah, Taff, these are super cool. I haven’t seen these before, why did you hide them from me?” I glanced over to her and saw her smile larger than I ever had before. A few seconds later her face dropped again and she went back to her cool demeanour.  
“Well I started a few weeks ago. Usually I don’t care too much for Halloween unless we’re having a party, but something clicked in my mind. I suddenly couldn’t stop thinking about how cheap and lame Halloween costumes always look for people who aren’t rich like me. I’m hoping someday I can make a side business where I design and create quality clothes for decent prices. Not for the rich, but, ya know, the common folk and whatnot.”  
“And so began the melting of the ice queen’s heart, huh?” She jabbed her elbow into my ribs and sighed.  
“Shut up loser. Tell me if you see anything you like, or if you have a favourite kind of costume tell me now before we waste both our time. I can sketch something up quickly and send it to my seamstress, Peggy. Nothing overly elaborate though. My costume is probably going to be a close call on its own.” A thus began the most agonising few minutes of our lives. As brilliant as they were, none of her costume designs drew me in, and my mind was blank on any kind of costume I would like. Usually, if she wasn’t help host a party, Taff and I spent Halloween together watching movies and binging on all kinds of sweets. Eventually I thought about how fascinating I find gory and bloodied up costumes, and we settled on a killer clown. Taff even organised a special effects makeup artist to come over last minute. Though her pride would never allow her to admit it, I could see how excited she was for this party. 

-=+=—=+=—=+=—=+=—=+=-

Walking up to the looming front doors was daunting. All nerves I subconsciously had about tonight were suddenly all bubbling to the surface at once. My stomach churned as the doors eerily creaked open, and a masked man stood there with his arm already outstretched to take any of our belongings we didn’t want to lug around all night. I smiled awkwardly as I scooted past him, his eyes locked onto me condescendingly. I felt something hard stab into the middle of my spine. A small squeak escaped my lips, and I defensively put my hand over where I was hit before looking behind me. Taffyta looked as if she had seen her biggest fears manifested in front of her. Her face was paler than usual, and her eyes were as wide as her head allowed her to go.  
“H-hey, please don’t walk off without me... please?” Her voice was shaky, only worsening my own fears. However, seeing Taff in such a vulnerable state gave me a rush of strength. I felt like I needed to protect her.  
We were all ushered off into a great dining hall. Mostly filled with carbon copied adults wearing formal clothes and masquerade masks, there was a glimmer of hope to keep the night from being a complete nightmare.  
“I’m terribly sorry sir, but your children aren’t allowed in here. It’s adults only, but all the kids are situated in the adjacent room.” Mr Muttonfudge flicked his hand at us as if we were disease-ridden, but that was to be expected. Taff linked her arm with mine and clung onto me, as if she were holding her breath. The stuffy butler guided as to a set of doors tucked away at the farthest corner of the room. He held open one of the doors and practically shoved us inside.  
“So much for being polite, huh?” I spat back through the doors. 

Surprisingly, being separated from the adults actually made me feel more comfortable. There were about a handful of children under the age of 10, but the remainder were around my and Taff’s age. The minute the doors had clicked behind us, Taff seemed to be resurrected into her old self.  
“Sorry about that. Now that the ‘formalities’ are out of the way, we can finally have some fun. I’ll introduce you to those people over there. They’re all I recognise here anyway.” Standing by a sparkling fountain of some kind of beverage were two sets of twins. One pair were wearing matching costumes; elegant princess gowns, one purple and one red. The other twins were matching in the sense that they were dressed as the polar opposites of what the other was wearing; one dressed as some kind of nurse, and the other looked like a corpse. The girl wearing the red dress noticed us approaching, and her face lit up with pure joy.  
“TAFFY!!” She struggled to move faster than a brisk walking pace, but she managed to fling herself onto Taff and I. The three of us crashed to the ground, and I could feel my face going red. I vaguely recognised her from some of the Muttonfudge family parties, but during those I mainly stayed around Taffyta who only mingled with the adults in order to impress them.  
“Jubileena behave yourself. You’re making us look bad!” Her twin scolded, angrily stomping over and hoisting Jubileena back to her feet. She looked at me, her eyes examining me slowly. I felt exposed under her gaze, and felt the urge to cover myself. She held a hand out for me and flashed a sweet smile. “Sorry about her, my parents are too soft with her. My name is Citrusella, but you can call me Sel. You look familiar, you’re Taff’s boy-toy, right?”  
“Oh my god, barf. He’s like a brother to me Sel don’t even try that crap tonight with us.” Sel giggled devilishly and cupped my cheek, her thumb delicately brushing against my skin.  
“He’s a cute one. Where do you find them Taffy?” Taff snorted loudly, batting away Sel’s hand from me.  
“You’re barking up the wrong tree sweetheart. Anyways, has anyone seen Gloyd?”  
“The Orangeboar kid? You really think they were going to allow him to slum it with the lesser kids? I’m sure he’s out there rubbing shoulders with the more elite.”  
“Oh come on, can we not make tonight about business? I mean, they threw us away so let’s just party!” Jubileena chimed, grabbing two cups and filling them with the sparkling beverage and shoving them in my and Taff’s hands. We clinked our cups together and smiled before tasting. My tastebuds felt like they were tasting the flavour equivalent of gold. I had to make a conscious effort to not drink too much of this, no matter how amazing. The other twins stepped forward, each one shaking my hand politely. They promptly introduced themselves, as if wanting to spend as little time being associated with me as possible. The one dressed as a nurse introduced herself as Nougetsia, and the corpse introduced herself as Adorabeezle, but to call her Adora only. 

The sun had barely set when the young children were ordered to leave.  
“The families with young kids never stay long. Tired kids begin to act up and everyone out there has a reputation to uphold along with their families.” Jubileena whispered, waving politely to the children leaving; even going out of her way to hug a couple of them. Just thinking about being a part of any of these families was exhausting enough for me. It made me appreciate my parents more than ever.  
Once all the young children were gone, the door was about to close when it suddenly swung back open again. Someone stepped in and cooly closed the door behind him, an air of sophistication emanating from him. He glanced at me, and I felt something strange inside my chest. My mind went fuzzy, and without a second thought, I was walking over to him.  
“Uh, hi, I uhm,” I couldn’t even say a simple sentence. I didn’t know why I was acting the way I was, but it’s like I no longer had control over myself. The mystery boy smiled at me and held out his hand. He was wearing a luxurious royal blue tailcoat suit, with black gloves and black knee high boots to match. His eyes and nose were covered by a black masquerade mask that was lined with dazzling gems, and intricate patterns made from golden fabric. I held my breath as I shook his hand.  
“My name’s Gavin. Not so hard now is it?” I pursed my lips together and felt my cheeks go hot.  
“I’m Rancis.” He let out a slight chuckle, and quickly pressed one of his hands against his mouth. Any cloudiness from my mind cleared, and suddenly I no longer desired to speak with him. I politely smiled and turned to go back to Taffyta when suddenly something heavy draped over my shoulders. Gavin raised an eyebrow and smiled.  
“Hey I just got here, and I don’t really know anyone. Care to introduce me, Rancis?”  
“Hey!” Taff came over, her arms folded like a disapproving parent. She looked Gavin up and down and completely dismissed him. “Who is this?”  
“Uh, he’s Gavin.”  
“Gavin?” She looked back at him and furrowed her brows. “What’s your last name?”  
“Gavin Bold. My family is relatively new to these kinds of functions. I was asking this guy here to introduce me.” She laughed mockingly and stepped between us, linking our arms.  
“Follow me then. He’s new as well.” He raised his hands defensively and seemed more than happy to cooperate.  
Jubileena looked like a lost puppy without Taffyta. When she saw us coming back over her face brightened up.  
“Oh! There you guys are! I was worried for a second that you guys had to leave early and didn’t say goodbye. Who’s that with you?”  
“Treat him nicely, he’s a newcomer apparently.”  
“Oh? So what’s your name? What does your family work in?”  
“I’m Gavin Bold, and my family has uh, recently invested with the Orangeboars.”  
“Wow really? That’s super cool! I guess that means you’ll be attending all the Orangeboar functions from now on then?” He nodded dismissively.  
“Hm, our family has worked closely with the Orangeboars for decades now, and I haven’t heard a thing about any ‘Bold’ family.” Three girls stepped forward. They were extremely identical, and I could only assume they were triplets. Even their outfits were identical, and the only thing to differentiate them were the colour schemes of their clothes. The one who had just spoken was wearing shades of green; the one standing to her left was wearing shades of gold and orange; and the one to the right wore turquoise and light blue. I leaned to Taff, and before I could get a word out she was already whispering an answer to me. “Zaki triplets. Green is Minty, orange is Torvald, and blue is Sticky. They’re total bitches but their family is just as powerful as the Orangeboars so try to not be too big of an ass to them please.” Taff pulled a face that vaguely resembled a smile, and I only ever saw her look like that when she was about to try schmoozing with potential investors or partners for her family’s business. I wasn’t interested in doing anything regarding business, as I was only here as a guest, so I stepped away and began to pick at some of the food that was gorgeously presented on the table next to the fountain.  
“Wise choice. Talking to those three usually leaves you feeling like all the joy in your life has been sucked out.” Nougetsia remarked, leaning against the table and shoving a small cake in her mouth.  
“They that bad?”  
“Nougetsia, not badmouthing my friends again are you?” A girl dressed as a ‘sexy’ cop barked.  
“Not at all. Just filling in one of the new guys on who they are is all. Nothing wrong with that is there?”  
“Of course not, especially since befriending them is a much wiser choice than befriending your worthless family.” She turned her back on her and hugged me. She pulled away just as quickly as she had hugged me and began to eye the sweets. “I’m Crumbelina DiCaramello, it’s a pleasure meeting you.” She gently picked up a cookie. When it was barely touching the opening of her mouth, Nougetsia scoffed. Crumbelina scowled at her.  
“That the same costume from last year? Looks a lot tighter this time around doesn’t it?” Crumbelina’s face dropped. She tossed the cookie aside and walked off. Nougetsia picked up the same cookie and ate it victoriously. 

“Hey there pretty boy. Now that I’ve met everyone we can get to know each other a bit more, huh?” Gavin snaked his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close to him. I picked up his arm and slid under it, but before I could let go he locked his fingers around my wrist and tugged me into him again.  
“What the fuck dude?”  
“Just trying to have fun. Is that a crime?”  
“Listen up please!” Torvald called out, clapping her hands loudly. “My sisters and I have grown a little bored, and now that the children are gone we were thinking we could finally play some games.”  
“Count us in!” Gavin said, raising my hand with his. I quickly pulled away and tried to walk off but was quickly stopped by Taffyta.  
“Yeah, we’ll play.” She smiled at me, her eyes gleaming. “If I couldn’t meet Gloyd tonight I may as well have some fun with all the other cute boys here right? But I won’t play if you don’t, soooo-“  
“Ugh fine. You owe me though.”  
“Yeah yeah.” Those who wanted to play began to form a circle in the centre of the room. The rest simply stuck to themselves and continued on with their own personal conversations.  
“Since our lovely Gloyd is never present, us three will be the head of this party. Sticky and I will be the game masters, and the lovely Torvald wishes to participate. So play nice! All those who don’t follow our rules will be punished accordingly.” Jubileena put her hand in the air and Sel pressed her face into the palm of hand in embarrassment. Minty and Sticky exchanged a weird look and pointed to her. Jubileena smiled.  
“What exactly are we playing?”  
“Truth or dare of course. It’s a classic, but of course there’s a Zaki twist-“  
“We will be going around the circle and choosing everyone to have a turn. Whether you choose truth or dare, you cannot change your mind after we’ve asked you a question or given you your dare-“  
“That will be considered cheating and you will get a penalty.” Torvald squeezed in between Gavin and I, batting her eyes dreamily at him. He showed no interest.  
Minty looked around the circle. She made us feel like meek prey, and she was the vicious predator who held our fate in her clawed grip. Her eyes landed on me, and shifted beside me. From the corner of my eye, I could see Torvald nod about something.  
“You! Mask boy!” Gavin shifted nervously, and for once his smug smile was wiped clean from his face. I couldn’t help but feel a little pleased. “Truth or dare?”  
“Since I’m here to have fun; dare.” Minty smiled and gestured something to Sticky; who happily ran to the back of the room to retrieve a plastic bottle. She crouched down to Gavin and handed him the bottle.  
“We dare you to spin this bottle, and whoever it lands on you’ll have to spend 7 minutes in heaven with.” He took the bottle, and hesitated before spinning it. It felt like forever; watching the bottle spin seemingly endlessly. As it began to slow, everyone seemed to hold their breath. When the bottle stopped, it took a moment for it to sink in that it was pointing directly between Taff and I.  
“Ooh, a 2 for 1 perhaps?” Taff looked at me, concern written over her face.  
“Sorry Rancis I don’t want Gloyd to hear I was in his home canoodling with some random boy. Please?”  
“Ugh, you’re lucky I love you so much.” I put my hand up and sighed.  
“I’ll go, it’s pointing more towards me anyway.” Minty and Sticky giggled, the pair helping both Gavin and I up and then ushered us to a door I hadn’t even noticed beforehand. When they opened it, I stepped into a luxurious bathroom rather than a cramped cupboard.  
“We’ll let you go when times up. Have fun you two~” they giggled and slammed the door in our faces.

A couple minutes had gone by a neither of us even looked at each other. I kept my ear pinned to the door the whole time, trying to listen to what the other people were being forced to do. Without warning, I felt a pair of hands grab my shoulders. His warm breath lightly brushed against the back of my neck, and my body felt as if it were about to melt.  
“W-What are you doing?” I hardly knew anything about him, and I had never liked it when anyone came this close to me. I should’ve been angrily pushing him off me, yet all I wanted was him to lean in closer.  
I felt one of his hands move from my shoulder. My body tensed up as I wondered what he was going to do next.  
“Hey, I think I know a way for us to get out of here. I think it would be funny to scare everyone since they forced two guys into this situation right off the bat-“  
“So?” The words had already been said before I could stop myself. He seemed taken aback by it, cocking his head to the side and rubbing his chin. My face was burning hot.  
“O-oh, I’m sorry did you... are you.?” I shoved him back and walked into the shower, sliding the door closed behind me. The air suddenly hung heavily, and the awkward tension was suffocating. He began to approach the shower, his footsteps seemed as loud as gunshots. The door began to slide upon, and he sheepishly poked his head inside. He looked back over his shoulder before stepping in with me, closing the door behind me. He rubbed his hands together, taking off his gloves and placing them down in a neat pile beside him.  
“Taffyta said you were a newcomer to these events too. Is that true?”  
“Well, I’ve obviously attended Taffyta’s family functions before, but never gone to any other family’s.” He paused again, as if examining my face to determine how truthful I was being.  
“What about the Orangeboar family? How well do you know them?” I began to realise that I needed to word my answers more carefully. These weren’t just ordinary kids from school, but children of influential families. Anything I said or did would reflect on Taffyta, and the entire Muttonfudge family.  
“I.. I’m sorry if this offends you, I don’t mean offence at all, but I don’t know much of anyone out there except Taffyta. I’m sorry if I should know more but-“  
“No, it’s fine. Relaxing even.” He reached up and undid his mask. My heart felt it skipped a beat as I watched it fall into his lap. He ran his fingers through his hair, and he immediately felt like a whole new person. He looked at me, and it was as if I was looking into his eyes for the very first time. They were a deep shade of brown; and when the light reflected off them it looked like stars in the night sky.  
“Hey.. if I made you feel bad just now.. about being gay, it’s not-“  
“Dude, you didn’t make me feel anything, and for your information I’m not gay, I’ve never thought of any guy like that so,” I looked down and had almost forgotten I was wearing such a heinous costume. Gavin scooted closer to me, nudging my knee with his elbow.  
“I guess I shouldn’t have assumed anything. I’m probably making myself look like an ass, but it’s because my parents have isolated me my whole life. I rarely get to hang out with anyone my age.”  
“You’re a home school kid? No wonder you’re so handsy, you don’t know anything about personal space.” We both let out a small huff as a lazy attempt of a laugh. There was a loud uproar from the other room, and I didn’t even want to imagine what the triplets were forcing everyone else to do.  
“I only have a vague idea about what seven minutes in heaven is. I know two people are meant to go into a closet together, and then they’re meant to... kiss?”  
“W-well I think that’s what most people do. Some people probably do what we’re doing - sitting awkwardly until the times up, and talking to fill the silence.”  
“Do you think two boys are often paired up for this game?”  
“I’m sure it’s happened a lot, it’s not that weird for teens to do.”  
“Then,” he moved so close to me he was practically sitting in my lap. My heart began pounding painfully in my chest. I was used to people obnoxiously getting close to me like this at these kinds of functions, but I never felt this nervous about it before. He placed one hand on my lap and the other on the back of my neck. He leaned in slowly. My mind went blank and I acted on instincts. I closed my eyes and leaned in. His forehead pressed against mine, but my lips went untouched. I opened my eyes and saw him smiling at me, more smug than ever.  
“You totally want to kiss me, don’t you?”  
“I.. I think I do.. so what?”  
“You know... if I’m going to have my first kiss, I think you should at least know my real name.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“I don’t usually tell people my real name because I find it ridiculous, but, fuck it.” He pressed his lips against mine so hard I couldn’t think straight. I closed my eyes and tried to keep myself composed. It felt like my body was no longer under my control. I placed a hand on the back of Gavin’s head and felt myself wanting more of him. I felt his tongue press against my lips, and was surprised enough to pull away. I was panting and out of breath, my body was trembling. Gavin ran his thumb gently over my lips and across my cheek.  
“My real name is Gloyd.” The name rang a bell, but my mind was still so jumbled I couldn’t make any connections. He laughed at me, running his hand through my hair and then holding the back of my neck again.  
“P-please..” Gloyd’s cheeks went red and he closed his eyes. I did too, leaning forward. Somehow, our lips interlocked without a problem. This time when I felt his tongue, I didn’t hold back. 

Seemingly without warning, the shower door slammed open. Both of our bodies jolted and we instinctively turned to face the noise. All of their mouths hung open, and I never felt more shame than I did then.  
“Fuck.” Gloyd said, trying to hide his face from everyone; but it was already too late. To make the situation a thousand times worse, the butler barged through. When he saw Gloyd and I, his face drained of all colour.  
“Master Gloyd, what do you think you’re doing?!” I could feel his heartbeat through his chest. He slipped his hand in mine and squeezed it tightly.  
“Just go with this, okay?” He slowly stood up, pulling me up with him. The butler looked angry enough to sentence me to death. Suddenly I felt myself being pulled forward. The girls screamed and jumped out of the way, and the butler was sent crashing to the ground. I saw Taffyta look at me, and I reached out for her hand, but she didn’t reach out back. I couldn’t help but feel as if she felt betrayed. We ran through the party hall, the music was nothing more than background noise, and all the adults watched pensively. I spotted Mr and Mrs Muttonfudge in the crowd, and if looks could kill I’d be dead in an instant.  
Gloyd and I didn’t stop running until we reached the gate of their property. He punched in a code and the gates gracefully glided open. He took my hand again and we continued to flee. My sides were burning and it felt like I couldn’t get enough air in my lungs. How did people do this for fun? This was a form of torture for sure, I felt like I was dying yet Gloyd was hardly breaking a sweat. 

We finally stopped in front of a picturesque lake. When Gloyd released my hand I collapsed.  
“Wh... what.. was.. that.. for?” Gloyd sat down next to me, only panting slightly. He took off his tailcoat and folded it neatly beside him, lay back on the grass and stretching his arms above his head.  
“I’m sorry that happened. Trust me, it was better we got out when we did or we would’ve been hounded for the next few hours. By the time they realise where we are they’ll have cooled down a bit.” I looked at him, but couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Granted, I only met him less than an hour ago, and only found out who he was just before our daring escape. I had so many questions I needed answered, but I wasn’t sure if bombarding him with them right now was wise. He rolled onto his side and reached out to touch my hair, but quickly retracted it back to his side. I rolled onto my side, feeling a jolt of pain. God I was never going to run again in my life.  
“So.. you’re the Orangeboar kid. How could no one recognise you before you had the mask off?”  
“Like I said, my parents isolated me my whole life. They’ve been grooming me to be the perfect heir of our family legacy. Tonight I just wanted to have some fun for once.”  
“Those triplets acted like they knew you well though. How come-“  
“They probably guessed it was me, but didn’t want me to be found out and played along.”  
“Why are your parents so strict?”  
“I’m the only son they were able to have. Do you know how many pregnancies my mum had to go through until they had me? Contrary to popular beliefs, rich families are putrid. They’re stuck in the past and I doubt that’ll ever change.”  
“Maybe not. I know for sure Taff will never be like her parents; and you obviously hate the way your parents raised you. Maybe when you two take charge of your family businesses, you’ll be able to pave way for a better life for everyone.” Gloyd smiled and reached out again. He touched my hair and pushed it away from my face.  
“While we’re here, why don’t we take a dip?”  
“U-uh.. I’m literally dressed in a serial killer clown costume.”  
“Well, take it off, dumbass.” He sprung up and began to undo his pants and shirt. I sat up and turned my head away, my stomach filling with butterflies.  
“Come on pretty boy, don’t tell me you need help taking that off.”  
“Fuck off, just go ahead without me.” 

If you had told me 12 hours ago that I would be standing at the edge of a lake, in nothing but mg underwear in the dead of night, I wouldn’t have believed you. Not only that, I was accompanied by a gorgeous boy who was swimming around as if it were normal. I was trying to cover my body as best as I could. The cold night breeze blew right through me, yet I never felt more alive in my entire life. Maybe it was the adrenaline from everything that’d happened, but I was willing to follow Gloyd anywhere.  
I slowly waded into the water, my body shaking uncontrollably. Gloyd began to swim circles around me while humming an ominous tune.  
“W-w-why d-d-did you w-want to d-do th-this anyw-way?”  
“Aw, is it too cold for you?” He swam over and grabbed my waist. He lifted me onto his shoulder and began to walk out deeper into the lake. I yelled and kicked him and suddenly I felt my body falling. I hit the water with a harsh slap. I pushed back up to the surface and gasped for air. Gloyd was laughing so hard he was choking himself on the water. I splashed the water into his face and leaned back until my body was floating peacefully on the surface. I looked up at the night sky and felt my breath being taken away.  
“One of the best parts of living so far away from other houses is that the stars here are magical. I look at them every night if I’m being honest.”  
“I j-just haven’t seen so m-many before.” Our hands brushed against one another under the water. The water shifted and rippled, and I felt Gloyd intertwine his fingers with mine.  
“You know how I said rich families are awful?”  
“Yeah?”  
“I’m engaged.” The fun had to end at some point. I moved my hand away and began to tread water, no longer able to peacefully float around with him.  
“If-“  
“Before you judge me; it’s an arranged marriage. I’m engaged to one of the Zaki girls - Minty, I think.” His voice croaked as he spoke. “We were only 4 when they arranged our engagement. They literally have a plan for us to follow until we’re 40. Pretend we started dating at 18. Announce we get engaged when we’re 25. Get married 6 months after the engagement announcement. Have a baby within 2 years of getting married. It’s a nightmare, and we’re nearly 18 now. I’ve never had the chance to figure out who I am or what I like growing up, and now I can’t even do that once I’m an adult.”  
“God.. that sounds.. I don’t even know what to say?”  
“You don’t have to say anything. I didn’t mean to go on like that.”  
“It’s a shame you’re already engaged though, Taff is crushing on you and she never likes anyone.”  
“She seems sweet, but I’ve never met her. Besides, my dad only just invited their family for the first time tonight, right? He’d never let me marry someone from a family he hasn’t been in business with for long or he doesn’t think is valuable.”  
“I think you two would’ve made a cute pair” I had no clue what to say to what he was telling me. Even Taff’s parents wouldn’t control her life to that extent. 

A voice echoed out to us. We both looked back to the land and saw a group of people yelling out to us.  
“Oh god, my dad actually came after me. That means he’s really mad.”  
“Well, if he’s already mad, how about we finish what we started before?” Under the moonlight I could see his face blush. He began to try to stammer out a reply, and it felt nice not being the bumbling idiot again. I swam up to him and pushed his hair back, running my hand down his back and placing the other under his chin. I took in a deep breath and kissed him. I felt one of his hands on my chest, and the other was pushing my head gently towards him. It was more difficult than I expected to kiss while staying afloat, but it didn’t take away the magic of the moment. I reluctantly pulled away, already longing for another kiss. His eyes were wide and gleaming with, what I hoped was joy.  
When we climbed from the water we were immediately met with scolding. So many voices yelling at once I couldn’t understand anything anyone was saying. I felt someone hug me from behind. It was Taffyta. I turned and hugged her, thrilled that she didn’t want to punch me in the face. She looked up at me and slapped me. Spoke to soon.  
“Taff I’m really sorry-“  
“I overheard everything. You caused the party to shut down. The Zaki family were furious you know? They left yelling how their daughter would never marry a boy like that or something?”  
“I really didn’t expect-“  
“No one did. When Minty and Sticky left you two in there they said how relieved they were that a girl didn’t go in with ‘the mask kid’. When they realised it was Gloyd that’s when they suggested playing the game because he’s never allowed to attend parties. It’s the only kind thing I’ve ever seen them do, but I think they hate him at the moment.”  
“But you told me-“  
“I should’ve guessed someone like Gloyd was arranged to be married with someone. I’m not mad at you though, I’ve been waiting for you to realise that side of yourself.”  
“Wait, what?”  
“God Rancis how are you that clueless?” She looked over my shoulder and then back at me. “I doubt my family will ever get invited to their house again. The damage is done, go make the most of this moment before you’re forced apart.” She shoved me roughly and I lost my footing. I expected to hit the ground, but was caught midair. I looked up and found myself face to face with Gloyd. People were still angrily shouting at him, and I could see Taffyta’s parents take her aside to scold her too. But she was right. If this was my last time seeing him, and the damage already done, what else was there to lose? He must’ve been thinking the same thing, because without missing a beat he leaned down and kissed me. All the voices broke out in horrified gasps, and I felt myself struggling to not laugh. Gloyd pulled me upright and turned me to face him.  
“Not so bad for a first kiss?”  
“The best I could’ve asked for.”


End file.
